When International students arrive in Leiden, they are pretty surprised as to how small a city it actually is. For the local students the area is basically a big University campus, with the University faculties scattered around town. The Law Faculty in its magnificent newly renovated building (where Albert Einstein used to lecture) is a 4 minute walk from the Faculty of Arts in a building that resembles a big chunk of cement. And the Teaching Hospital LUMC lies opposite the Faculty of Social Sciences just behind Leiden Central Station. The historic city centre itself, with its boat-lined canals, sun terraces, shopping boulevards and glorious seventeenth century stately homes functions as a place to live and play in. After class an international student will find himself walking the cobbled streets in search of classmates and friends who are easily met when the cafés and pubs are at walking distance of Uni. It is inevitable you will run into people you know when visiting the local open market (a perfect place to get your fresh fruit and veg, cheese and delicious, must-try stroopwaffels) which lines the central canal every Wednesday and Saturday. With its fantastic Dutch atmosphere a real treat to walk through. When you've met up with your friends, hang out at the only real park Leiden has to offer; the Van der Werff park just across the Law Faculty. Or else, settle down at the Burcht, an old Fortress in the middle of the city that, after a climb to the top, offers a lovely view of the town. You will see what the old Leiden soldiers saw hundreds of years ago when they tried to keep the Spanish out of the city walls. They did not succeed, but after some time, the 'Leidenaren' chased the Spanish away again on the third of October, and ever since they did they have celebrated this great event. For students, the festivities around the 3rd of October are a definite Do. A carnival, food stands, booths, and party on in the streets and squares until you drop.
Hungry from a day at the market? Because of Leiden's
student status, cheap restaurants are not hard to find.
From an East-African dish to French cuisine, from Italian
pizza to Döner Kebab, is has it all. Restaurants
charge from 6, - to 20,- for dinner. A few
of the cheapest places are Donatello's Pizzas, Restaurant
La Bota, Eazie Chinese take out or Chinese restaurant
Woo Ping. However, it is not the restaurants that are
most important. The adventure that awaits throughout
the night into the early hours of the morning is what
a student is thirsting for, since a long day of studying
makes thirsty, and hitting the café, pub or disco
the only way to quench it. At first sight Leiden might
look a tad quiet at night. This is partly because of
the many student fraternities that have their headquarters
in the city centre. A reasonable amount of Dutch students
(about 30%) are frat members and spend their party night
inside the Mother-House. although Leiden's nightlife
is not as diverse as say Amsterdam or The Hague, there
are enough places to go out, even if you are not a fraternity
member. Mondays is international student night at Odessa's
bar at the end of the Breestraat; small but enormously
enjoyable place, especially during happy hour between
10.30 till 11.30. Be prepared for a queue though, which
starts its miserable life after 11.00. Be sure to have
a friend inside to bring you beer while you're waiting.
Another special international night is Wednesday in
Einstein's. The International Student Network Leiden
has its weekly drink and especially the first few weeks
this is the place to be if you're not Dutch. After a
while though it might get tedious to be around an international
environment all the time. The perfect remedy is to visit
one of the many other bars Leiden has to offer. On Wednesdays
also, the small café Sus Antigoon on de Oude
Vest has its now famous live music night. A typical
'brown café' with free peanuts (you can throw
the shells on the floor!) house-dogs and drunk elderly
people. Prepare for a laugh (and the beer is cheap!)
Looking for a more refined atmosphere? Roebels Bar near
the Pieterskerk church has a Russian Communist interior,
and a host of Dutch students pretending to know who
Lenin was. Join in and dance on capitalistic top 40
music. Lastly, the only real Disco, In Casa, houses
not only students, but a more diverse public. A small
entrance fee, no queues and a stage to parade around
on.
A night like that must be hard. After such a laborious
Saturday, spend your lazy Sunday afternoon in one of
Leiden's 11 museums or galleries like the National Museum
of Antiquities, the modern National Museum for Natural
History, and the National Museum of Ethnology. A student
ID card also offers you free admission into one of Leiden's
small gems; The Hortus Botanicus; a botanical garden
near the Faculty of Law and Arts. The entrance is obscured
by the University Academic Building, but when revealed
provides visitors a stunning garden full of flowers,
foreign trees and a large pond filled with koi-carp.
Find a cosy corner in the grass and sleep off your hangover
amidst the buzzing of twittering birds and other visitors.
And when hunger strikes, many bars double as places
that provide good lunches, or pick one of the many lunch
café's around the market area like Bagels &
Beans (free chocolate), Oloroso, Annie's Verjaardag
or one of the many typical Dutch Pannekoeken (Pancake)
houses; a delicious treat in the form of a enormous
pancake with every topping imaginable.
Lastly, a few tips and tricks for the frugal student.
All about cheap groceries? Do your shopping at Aldi
supermarket. Avoid Super de Boer and Spar. Cheapest
dinners are to be found at the pizza and snack places.
Vegetarian falafel at Maoz in the Haarlemmerstraat and
sandwiches at Subways around the corner. If your life
revolves around getting drunk, do it at "Belgie"
in the Pieterskerksteeg, low-cost Belgian beer in pints.
Cheap clothing at H&M, cheap shoes at the Van Haren
and cheap haircuts on the Breestraat. Especially for
barbershops, don't pay more than 30 euro, the student
rate for a haircut in the smaller shops is 20
or less. Leiden does not have to be an expensive city,
most things are kept low cost in order to attract the
large student clientele. That coupled with all the fun
to be had, your stay in Leiden has no reason not to
be fantastic!
By Myrthe Brouwer
Leiden University
